Born in Catania in 1975, Alice still lives and works in the city. She graduated in Conservazione dei Beni Culturali di Pisa and then returned to Sicily where she trained in the Maestro Domenico di Mauro in Aci Sant’Antonio, the prestigious workshop of Sicilian carts. Many years before, the paths were laid for the master and the pupil to cross: for Alice the discovery of carts came from her interest in “objets d’art” and the “roots of her family”. The two of them, together with a very small circle of artists, tell the story of a world that is now distant, but not yet lost. As the only woman amongst the very few painters of carts to inherit this age-old and complex decorative art, she studies in depth the multiple aspects of the popular artistic tradition. She draws inspiration from a personal interpretation of Sicilian folklore and its traditional themes. Alongside her production of painted furniture, paintings and everyday objects, she also works in interior design, fashion and theatre, all with a subterranean vein of irony and a touch of nostalgia.

Enamel and acrylic, 60 x 151 x 68.2 cm Painted on the front of this refrigerator is the legend of Colapesce, presented in episodes like on a storyteller’s playbill. Nicola, nicknamed Colapesce for his ability to dive into the sea, not only recounts the wonders of the underwater world to all, but brings back extraordinary treasures. One day the young man does not return to the surface. Tradition has it that Colapesce is beneath Sicily, having replaced one of the three columns which, according to legend, support the island. Depicted on the side panels of the refrigerator are Scylla and Charybdis, the two mythological sea monsters who live at the bottom of the Strait of Messina.